The hardware and app cream of the new UK and Europe sat navs

1. TomTom Go Mobile (Android)

New freemium model has some odd pricing but is generally both cheap and excellent

Like its iPhone cousin, below, this is an excellent option, particularly once you're out of the middle of town – smartphone sat navs can struggle in built-up areas. It gives consistently decent navigation and has all the excellent key features of TomTom's standalone sat navs, including smart Traffic and speed camera alerts included in its price – and pricing is the most interesting element here, in some respects.

You get the first 50 miles per month for free, then you can choose to pay nothing – and lose turn-by-turn navigation, but keep the ability to browse maps, for what that's worth – or £14.99 for a one-year sub, or £34.99 for a three-year sub. For that, you get the speed cam and traffic data thrown in.

The only way that's a bad deal, compared to what TomTom was previously charging on Android – and is still charging on iOS – is if you don't want speed camera and traffic data.

2. TomTom (iOS)

Reasonably priced, at least compared to a hardware sat nav

This is an excellent option, particularly once you're out of the middle of town – smartphone sat navs can struggle in built-up areas, presumably due to weaker GPS reception and the fact they're always doing numerous other things at the same time as navigation. It's versatile, with a lovely UI, and gives consistently decent navigation.

The price? Well, it's a lot cheaper than a standalone GPS unit, but a lot more expensive than your average app. On iOS the basic app is £26 but you'll need to add £18 per year for traffic updates and £16 per year for camera info. The app does offer enough to make it worth the outlay, in our humble opinion.

3. CoPilot Premium (iOS, Android, Windows Phone 8)

A cheaper option than TomTom's sat nav app

CoPilot Live Premium is a less effective navigator than TomTom's app but it does have several things going for it. It's cheaper at £20 for the basic app, but that price also includes camera and traffic info, so it's significantly cheaper if you want the full package.

It's also very customisable and you can search addresses via geotagged photos and Google Search, as well as the more traditional methods. And while it's choice of routes can be eccentric, but generally speaking, it won't get you lost.

4. Telenav Scout (iOS, Android, Windows Phone 8)

An even cheaper sat nav app option. In fact, it's free…

This one costs nothing (for one country – additional ones are a few quid or you can get all available countries for £7.49) and performs adequately. Traffic info is a further £7.49 for a lifetime's worth of updates.

Thanks to Foursquare and TripAdvisor integration, Scout is especially good for tourists.

For some reason, in order to find the Scout app, you'll need to search for "Scout GPS Maps, Meetup & Chat" on Play and "GPS Navigation, Maps & Traffic - Scout (Sat Nav)" at the App Store. No, we have no idea why they've done that.

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